WHAT IS KAP? | Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy, TELOS

Meet Our Provider Allison Wendt

I believe we can all access the wisdom we need to heal, and that healing is a unique and personal experience to each person.

My role is to hold a supportive, compassionate space for your healing to unfold, and to help you integrate what you learn from psychedelic medicine into your everyday life. Often healing involves increasing our capacity to hold painful feelings in a safe way, and learning to acknowledge and work with parts of ourselves that we might consider unacceptable. My outlook is that we’re not sick or broken as individuals, but have sometimes learned from and adapted to our surrounding environments in ways that might have become harmful to us, or we get hijacked by trauma. I believe true healing comes about when we restore a loving connection to all parts of ourselves, each other, and our environment. Self-compassion can be a struggle for many of us, and healing is a process. In my experience, psychedelic medicine can boost this process in a profound way, giving us new perspectives, spiritual awareness and tools to carry through our lives. As a therapist, I will respectfully support you wherever you find yourself on this challenging and empowering journey.

I hold a Master’s degree in Systems Psychology and have been trained in EMDR, one method of reprocessing traumatic memory. Before going into private practice, I worked in community mental health, in both inpatient and outpatient settings. I also studied visual arts and taught yoga. I live in a cabin by the beach and like to spend my free time learning how to garden, in spiritual practice, or with friends and family.

Meet our Medical Team

Rafael Gonzalez-Vizoso, MD

Dr. Gonzalez-Vizoso started his education at Brooklyn College where he earned his BA in chemistry while fulfilling his pre-med requirements, graduating Cum Laude. He completed his medical school education at Harvard Medical School where he also did a year of research in Tropical Medicine.

His internship was done at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, a Tufts University Medical School affiliated program, and his residency in Emergency Medicine at Boston Medical Center, a Boston University Medical School affiliated program.

He has been board certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine since 1996. He has been practicing Emergency Medicine in multiple settings -anywhere from Level 2 Trauma Centers in urban settings to small to medium rural hospitals- since his graduation from residency in 1994. He is currently the Medical Director for Emergency Services at a critical care access rural hospital in Eastern Washington. He is also the Chairman of the Board of Lightshine, a non profit organization dealing with the care of orphans -specifically in the setting of attachment disorder-, and has traveled extensively on behalf of this organization through Central and South America.

After arriving in Seattle in 1996, he taught Introduction to Clinical Medicine at the University of Washington Medical School as a clinical instructor for 5 years. He also engaged in outcomes research as the medical director of Health Research Associates, Inc. where he co-authored papers, wrote grants and lead studies for 10 years. For the past 18 months, he has been interested in Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy and has undergone all the appropriate training with The Ketamine Training Center, headed by Dr. Phil Wolfson, a leading authority on ketamine assisted psychotherapy (KAP) and has become certified in this treatment modality.

Dr. Gonzalez-Vizoso’s interest in KAP was sparked by the dearth of options available for mental health patients in crisis as well as people with addiction disorders. This induced him to delve into the latest research in the use of psychedelics for mental illnesses. He has used ketamine as an anesthetic in the emergency medicine setting as aid for painful procedures and rapid sequence intubation for over 25 years and is very familiar with the use and safety profile of ketamine. During his training for KAP, Dr. Gonzalez-Vizoso experienced firsthand the amazing effects of ketamine. In association with veteran, ketamine trained psychotherapists, he has become increasingly active in the field of applying psychedelics in the setting of mental illnesses and hopes to continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

Besides his interests in medicine, Dr. Gonzalez-Vizoso holds two black belts in two different styles of martial arts, is an avid free diver and spearfisherman as well as an avid cyclist. He is an amateur historian and has serious spiritual and religious pursuits. He also writes poetry but is too afraid to show it to anyone yet.

If you are interested in future trainings or participating in KAT when alternative options become available you can send inquiries to scott.ross@salishseacounseling.com